Demeter's Dream
by sweetietart
Summary: This is a little single I wrote in as a Chapter 8.5 for Taste of Curiosity. Demeter spends a day with her daughter. Enjoy! R&R please!


A/N: Here you go guys and gals! I am hard at work with research and writing for Part 2 of TofC. The title will be posted under my Profile in a few days hopefully. My friend Jenny is helping me out of a writing funk. I have discovered so many goodies to write about through some series web searching and book reading. I promise I'm working on it.

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Demeter rose early every day and glanced in on her daughter before smiling and going downstairs to cook breakfast and watch the sun come up. This morning was just like any other, Persephone was curled up in her bed dreaming away, the sun was rising in the East, and breakfast was just starting to steam in pot. Humming, Demeter set the table and dished out the food before calling Persephone. A grumbled "Mmmmuhhhmmmgg!" replied.

A few second later, the sleepy eyed goddess of Spring walking into the kitchen and thumped down on the chair. She picked at her food until she woke up, then quickly ate it. Suggesting to her daughter that they walk through the fields and examine what was ready to be harvested, they picked up their baskets and went out the front door of the little cottage.

The rows of vegetables seemed to stretch for miles, and it probably did, but they were goddesses, and what was a few miles walk in the sunshine to them? They walked on either side of a large line of squash and sang lines of songs back and forth across the row. When they reached the end of the row, they stopped and compared what they had gathered. Sitting on the grass, stretching their legs, they each selected a ripe vegetable and ate it as a snack.. Persephone rolled onto her back and rested her head on her mother's lap to listen to a story, as was their tradition. The earth goddess began and the air stilled and the breeze slowed to listen to the mother's voice.

"Way back at the beginning of time, when there was more lightning than sky, and the earth was barely beginning to blossom with grass and sprouts, there lived Acleia and Tenores. They were twin brother and sister and had lived there since they were small and their parents had placed them there to ease the fire that boiled in the molten mountain. The mountain raised them and grew trees and gave birth to animals to sustain and guard them. The mountain grew very fond of her children and gave them everything they wished for, but only forbade them to leave the moutain's shelter, for beyond that, the mountain could not watch over them and they would be vulnerable. They did not mind this and were perfectly content. They hunted and played and grew in the shelter of the mountain and in the forest that grew up the sides." Demeter continued with detailing how beautiful the mountain was, while stroking Persephone's hair.

"One day, they were playing a game and Tenores snuck off to hide from Acleia. She looked and looked but could not find him. She laughed it off and went home, pleased with herself at this joke she had played on him, he would come home hours later and she would be sitting there at the table eating, and comfortable. It grew late, and after she had eaten, Acleia went to bed, having gotten tired of waiting for him to come home. The next morning she woe, but still could not find Tenores. As she stepped outside the mountain asked her what had happened. Acleia said that she didn't know, that he hadn't come home. The mountain searched and Acleia searched, but to no avail. Finally, hours later, Acleia was walking along the border of their home on the mountain when she saw something that made her scream. The mountain heard her and asked her what it was, for it was just out of her awareness. Acleia ran to the body of her brother and clutched at him. Tenores' blood was still wet where the hunting arrow had gone astray. The mountain bellowed when Acleia told it in sobs what has happened. Black fumes rolled out of the top and heat began to sting at the air. The mountain screamed at Acleia to get back to the shelter on the other side of the mountain. With a burst of strength, Acleia half carried half dragged Tenores along the path back to the hut. Once she was inside the mountain began to rumble. Acleia was terrified and she didn't know what was going on, but didn't imagine that the mountain was going to do anything, so she ran back to where Tenores had been, outside of the mountain's awareness and picked up his bag of treasures that he always carried with him, it had been little tokens and charms they had found or made. She turned back to the mountain and they both screamed for nothing could save her as the heated lava poured over her and the earth and the villages that surrounded the mountain."

Persephone sat up. "What did you think?" Demeter asked her daughter.

"I didn't like the mountain. It shouldn't have been so hasty to react, it destroyed the last thing iit loved that it had left out of sheer uncontrolled grief. That's horrible."

"The mountain had lost it's child, my lovely. It was only trying to punish those who had upset it. Grief is very powerful, as is a parent's worry when a child leaves home and the parent cannot protect it." Persephone's frown relaxed and she smile and nodded.

"Well then I'll never leave you mama." She chuckled, then joked. "Because you would probably end up destroying everyone, wouldn't you?"

Demeter's mouth smiled, but her eyes were serious and solemn. In a quiet voice she said, "I love you more than you will ever know, my daughter." They went home later and ate dinner and then sat outside around the fire and looked up at the stars. They slept outside, and Demeter closed her eyes with a smile on her face.

When the dream ended, Demeter awoke in the empty house and the earth trembled.

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A/N: Next week there will be a short story called 'Blinded by First Light' it's another Hades/Persephone ficlet. Then probably chapter one of the Part 2. I have also completed a fairy tale story I'll be posting on here sometime... 'Enchanted'. Okay, love you all. TTFN! By the way, feel free to email me with title ideas for Part 2 of Taste of Curiosity. 


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